iMMS Comes to the iPhone... in Portugal!

Reader Jose wrote in to tell us that MMS has finally come to the iPhone! Er... Sorta:

since yesterday, vodafone Portugal has a MMS app for the iPhone! It looks like the mail app and it works very well! It's awesome, you can send and recieve MMS.. but it only works on iPhones from vodafone Portugal! It's called iMMS!

I'm not sure who is holding back MMS from AT&T's iPhone. I remember Steve Jobs saying that email was superior to MMS and how Apple wanted to stay away from MMS. While I agree with that, many of you don't. Who could be a combination of both companies holding it back...

Guys,
I'm from Portugal, and already tested it.
What we're talking here is about a full-grown straight-forward MMS client, the likes of those on your "regular" Nokias, Motos, etc. We're not talking about any shimmy app that redurrcts you to websites, sends links through SMS or requires passwords and more just to see the message. The full MMS experience is based on getting the message (text/pic/vid/audio) straight to your phone. And that you can only get with this app, or swirly.
The big difference is that swirly requires you to jailbreak your phone. It is sort to say... How do I put this without pulling someone's teeth... Illegal??? ;)
This one is the first fully Apple certified and supported MMS client to be deployed in a legit fashion.
And yes: it works it any other phone, both sending and receiving... ;)
Maybe it will come to you guys soon!

@Pedro PT
sir, jailbreaking is not illegal. it breaches contract, meaning apple doesn't have to do jack if your phone mysteriously breaks.
i could be wrong. maybe it is illegal. i'm not a lawyer. oh well, millions of people do illegal things everyday. have you stayed under the legal speed limit your entire life?

jailbreaking is not illegal in any country.
jailbreaking today is reversible, i.e. you can just make a restore and apple will have no clue that you had ever jailbroken it, thus you can return it. :-)
i have used swirlymms in almost a year wihout any hazzles at all. it simply works like a charm!

To the argument that" millions of people do illegal things every day". Go back to winmob, those are your people.
And to the jailbreakers. Stop wasting Apple's time and money. We sure could use the programmers that have to battle you to develop even more cool apps for the rest of us. When I sign a contract I keep it, if I don't like it I don't sign it...duh.

@chobbs
yeah... the jailbreak community should all give up their futile attempts at making real applications and go legit to make the most awesome fart/tipcalc/todo/weather app the app store has ever seen!!!
dont get mad at us just because u almost crapped ur pants when ur attempt to jailbreak went wrong man. sour grapes. =D

I really don't understand the big deal about MMS. My gf and I have been using email just fine to send pictures ever since I got my iPhone in August. She has a normal MMS phone, so she put my email address in her To: line. I have my iPhone, so I put her phone number email (##########@mms.att.net). It's been working perfectly for 6 months now. No need for MMS in the US.

I also rather use email instead of mms, why would you need to mms if you could email! Most plans with mms will also have data. Its even much cheaper to email and it has no limitations (such as pic size).

your right steve I rather enjoy that too!!
What I do not enjoy is being told I should jump off a bridge just because all my freinds did. In the end it costs the rest of us.
Btw this is a great site for iPhone users. I love all the info! Especially when I find a cool native app like snatch or kick ass games like topple for FREE!

Mms for me is a non issue accept when a freind that has not upgraded their phones to use e-mail try to send me a pic.
But there is a work around as johaen8 suggested. It is quite simple too and no app is needed. Just a little research and BAM!

@Chobbs
Actually, no one buying a first-gen iPhone was required to sign a contract when they bought the phone. The only contract signed was to the service provider for cell phone service. There is no obligation to keep the phone in the jailed condition in any way.
@Steve
FYI: My jailbroken first-gen is working absolutely wonderfully thank you. As for others that 'screw up' their phones, the issues tend to be user error or failure from external sources (the computer they jailbroke with, faulty cables, etc) not specifically the jailbreak itself. Sometimes, the software people install that breaks other items but that happens even with AppStore software.
@Pedro PT
Jailbreaking is nowhere near illegal. No contract is breached by jailbreaking, one only supposedly loses warranty eligibility if the device fails (just as do any device that is modified beyond the OEM's control). One can't complain to or sue Apple for what is beyond their control because of his or her modifications to the device.
Not only iPhone users do such modifications. WM, Nokia, and Symbian smartphone users can remove the application installation/signing restrictions on their phones in order to run non-certified apps. I have done so with my Blackjack so I could use better, and sometimes free or cheaper, software than what was available as 'authorized' by Microsoft.
(AND NO NO NO, I'm not referring to cracked software, but rather software from small developers who couldn't afford to buy licenses/certification/etc).
Why should a developer buy 'permission' to create software for a platform? If that was the case, then we wouldn't see anywhere near the software we have now in the PC/Mac/Linux world.
Developers should be able to do what they are best at creating, with no restrictions other than the physical restrictions the platform itself has (hardware, etc). Unfortunately, Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, and Symbian don't believe in this philosophy, and that's what's sad.
Back to topic. It'd be interesting to see a MMS app come out, but it'll probably not happen in the US.
I wonder if this app has hard coded (or even better plist encoded) APN/MMSC/proxy settings. If so, I bet somebody could manage to change the settings on it, and re-release it usable on any carrier.

@chobbs
If you dont want to jailbreak because you want to be a good boy thats your prerogative but dont try to make people who do feel bad. I signed a contract....yes...and your point is. Im wasting APPLEs money...youre breaking my heart beause im sure theyre hurting for cash.
IMO theres nothing wrong with jailbreaking
I paid a pretty good price for MY phone i will do with it as I please. If apple cant provide me with the basic features that i need.......I will gladly go to whomever is offering it why should I wait around for them. Ill try not to lose too much sleep about how its supposedly indirectly affecting you.
To the MMS question I already have swirly but it would be nice if apple caught up for the non jailbroken people.

If apple can't provide you with what you need?
Well you know my answer to that LOL.
This has been fun no hard feelings here. Just felt like stirring the pot. Accept for mikeed you all have brought up valid points and I appreciate that in a forum. Thank you

i never take things too seriously and neither should u. =D
to be honest i was scared to death to jailbreak my phone. it was like a rollercoaster ride for me. waiting in line for a ride is the scariest part of all but during the act it was like the best adrenaline rush ever and i couldnt go back to a virgin iphone ever again.
im not urging ppl to jailbreak, rather asking politely for virgin users to please stop whining about what apple wont ever give u if u're not willing to take the risk and take it for urself.
hope i raised a rather valid point now chobbs. ur approval is all i could ever seek after all. =]

I have enjoyed my apple products mostly because, unlike other co., apple is and has been willing to wait for an app to be perfect before releasing it to use with their products. It just works. And your right Mikeed, people really need to stop complaining about what they don't have.
Mms is a good example of this. Mms ,IMHO, is an addiction that really is no longer needed. Most phones can send free emails. Why pay to be able to receive tiny pics???
My iPhone has been fun, useful, and it just works. I do not want a half tested app to screw that up?

i don't know. the reason i have mms on my iPwn is sadly because other phones stubbornly and ignorantly make it hard for regular joes to set up their e-mail accounts.
quip is a good alternative to sending pics to other phones but it doesn't go through half the time.
apple's just way too advanced for their own good sometimes i guess. but it's cool. until all phone manufacturers get the memo that e-mail is way better (and get over the fact that it's free) then i will have to keep jailbreaking and getting mms's.

As someone else said, we've got a MMS app in the UK. Unfortunately, you have to pay to send messages (receiving them is free) which is very frustrating as I've got 500 texts and unlimited data in my monthly plan. Still, maybe Apple will start to take notice of these MMS apps and include this functionality in a (not too distant) future update.

If it's being allowed in another country under another service provider it seems like at@t would be the culprit not apple, it would at least be nice to know the true reason, the whole email is better reason I'm not buying, this is a mobile device, mms is standard on the majority